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NAME

       rpc - library routines for remote procedure calls

SYNOPSIS AND DESCRIPTION

       These  routines  allow  C  programs  to  make procedure calls on other machines across the
       network.  First, the client calls a procedure to send a data packet to the  server.   Upon
       receipt  of  the  packet,  the  server  calls  a dispatch routine to perform the requested
       service, and then sends back a reply.  Finally, the procedure call returns to the client.

       To take use of these routines, include the header file <rpc/rpc.h>.

       The prototypes below make use of the following types:

           typedef int bool_t;

           typedef bool_t (*xdrproc_t) (XDR *, void *, ...);

           typedef bool_t (*resultproc_t) (caddr_t resp,
                                           struct sockaddr_in *raddr);

       See the header files for the declarations of the AUTH, CLIENT, SVCXPRT, and XDR types.

       void auth_destroy(AUTH *auth);

              A  macro  that  destroys  the  authentication  information  associated  with  auth.
              Destruction  usually  involves deallocation of private data structures.  The use of
              auth is undefined after calling auth_destroy().

       AUTH *authnone_create(void);

              Create and return an RPC authentication handle that passes nonusable authentication
              information  with  each  remote procedure call.  This is the default authentication
              used by RPC.

       AUTH *authunix_create(char *host, int uid, int gid,
                             int len, int *aup_gids);

              Create and  return  an  RPC  authentication  handle  that  contains  authentication
              information.   The  parameter  host  is  the  name  of  the  machine  on  which the
              information was created; uid is the user's user ID; gid is the user's current group
              ID;  len and aup_gids refer to a counted array of groups to which the user belongs.
              It is easy to impersonate a user.

       AUTH *authunix_create_default(void);

              Calls authunix_create() with the appropriate parameters.

       int callrpc(char *host, unsigned long prognum,
                   unsigned long versnum, unsigned long procnum,
                   xdrproc_t inproc, char *in,
                   xdrproc_t outproc, char *out);

              Call the remote procedure associated with prognum,  versnum,  and  procnum  on  the
              machine, host.  The parameter in is the address of the procedure's argument(s), and
              out is the address of where to place the result(s); inproc is used  to  encode  the
              procedure's  parameters,  and  outproc  is  used to decode the procedure's results.
              This routine returns zero if it succeeds, or the value of enum clnt_stat cast to an
              integer  if  it  fails.  The routine clnt_perrno() is handy for translating failure
              statuses into messages.

              Warning: calling remote procedures with this routine uses UDP/IP  as  a  transport;
              see  clntudp_create()  for  restrictions.   You  do not have control of timeouts or
              authentication using this routine.

       enum clnt_stat clnt_broadcast(unsigned long prognum,
                            unsigned long versnum, unsigned long procnum,
                            xdrproc_t inproc, char *in,
                            xdrproc_t outproc, char *out,
                            resultproc_t eachresult);

              Like callrpc(), except the call message  is  broadcast  to  all  locally  connected
              broadcast nets.  Each time it receives a response, this routine calls eachresult(),
              whose form is:

                  eachresult(char *out, struct sockaddr_in *addr);

              where out is the same as out passed to clnt_broadcast(),  except  that  the  remote
              procedure's output is decoded there; addr points to the address of the machine that
              sent the results.  If eachresult() returns zero, clnt_broadcast()  waits  for  more
              replies; otherwise it returns with appropriate status.

              Warning:  broadcast sockets are limited in size to the maximum transfer unit of the
              data link.  For ethernet, this value is 1500 bytes.

       enum clnt_stat clnt_call(CLIENT *clnt, unsigned long procnum,
                           xdrproc_t inproc, char *in,
                           xdrproc_t outproc, char *out,
                           struct timeval tout);

              A macro that calls the remote procedure procnum associated with the client  handle,
              clnt,  which is obtained with an RPC client creation routine such as clnt_create().
              The parameter in is the address of the procedure's  argument(s),  and  out  is  the
              address  of  where to place the result(s); inproc is used to encode the procedure's
              parameters, and outproc is used to decode the procedure's results; tout is the time
              allowed for results to come back.

       clnt_destroy(CLIENT *clnt);

              A  macro  that  destroys  the  client's  RPC  handle.  Destruction usually involves
              deallocation of private data structures, including clnt itself.   Use  of  clnt  is
              undefined  after  calling clnt_destroy().  If the RPC library opened the associated
              socket, it will close it also.  Otherwise, the socket remains open.

       CLIENT *clnt_create(char *host, unsigned long prog,
                           unsigned long vers, char *proto);

              Generic client creation routine.  host identifies the name of the remote host where
              the  server  is  located.  proto indicates which kind of transport protocol to use.
              The currently supported values  for  this  field  are  “udp”  and  “tcp”.   Default
              timeouts are set, but can be modified using clnt_control().

              Warning:  Using  UDP  has  its shortcomings.  Since UDP-based RPC messages can hold
              only up to 8 Kbytes of encoded data, this transport cannot be used  for  procedures
              that take large arguments or return huge results.

       bool_t clnt_control(CLIENT *cl, int req, char *info);

              A  macro used to change or retrieve various information about a client object.  req
              indicates the type of operation, and info is a pointer  to  the  information.   For
              both  UDP  and  TCP,  the supported values of req and their argument types and what
              they do are:

                  CLSET_TIMEOUT  struct timeval // set total timeout
                  CLGET_TIMEOUT  struct timeval // get total timeout

              Note: if you set the timeout using clnt_control(), the timeout parameter passed  to
              clnt_call() will be ignored in all future calls.

                  CLGET_SERVER_ADDR  struct sockaddr_in  // get server's address

              The following operations are valid for UDP only:

                  CLSET_RETRY_TIMEOUT  struct timeval // set the retry timeout
                  CLGET_RETRY_TIMEOUT  struct timeval // get the retry timeout

              The  retry  timeout is the time that "UDP RPC" waits for the server to reply before
              retransmitting the request.

       clnt_freeres(CLIENT * clnt, xdrproc_t outproc, char *out);

              A macro that frees any data allocated by the RPC/XDR system  when  it  decoded  the
              results  of  an  RPC  call.   The  parameter out is the address of the results, and
              outproc is the XDR routine describing the results.  This routine returns one if the
              results were successfully freed, and zero otherwise.

       void clnt_geterr(CLIENT *clnt, struct rpc_err *errp);

              A  macro  that copies the error structure out of the client handle to the structure
              at address errp.

       void clnt_pcreateerror(char *s);

              Print a message to standard error indicating why a client RPC handle could  not  be
              created.   The  message  is  prepended  with  string  s  and  a colon.  Used when a
              clnt_create(), clntraw_create(), clnttcp_create(), or clntudp_create() call fails.

       void clnt_perrno(enum clnt_stat stat);

              Print a message to standard error corresponding to the condition indicated by stat.
              Used after callrpc().

       clnt_perror(CLIENT *clnt, char *s);

              Print  a  message  to standard error indicating why an RPC call failed; clnt is the
              handle used to do the call.  The message is prepended with string s  and  a  colon.
              Used after clnt_call().

       char *clnt_spcreateerror(char *s);

              Like  clnt_pcreateerror(),  except  that it returns a string instead of printing to
              the standard error.

              Bugs: returns pointer to static data that is overwritten on each call.

       char *clnt_sperrno(enum clnt_stat stat);

              Take the same arguments as clnt_perrno(), but instead of sending a message  to  the
              standard  error  indicating  why  an  RPC call failed, return a pointer to a string
              which contains the message.  The string ends with a NEWLINE.

              clnt_sperrno() is used instead of clnt_perrno() if the  program  does  not  have  a
              standard  error (as a program running as a server quite likely does not), or if the
              programmer does not want the message to be output with printf(3), or if  a  message
              format  different than that supported by clnt_perrno() is to be used.  Note: unlike
              clnt_sperror() and clnt_spcreaterror(), clnt_sperrno() returns  pointer  to  static
              data, but the result will not get overwritten on each call.

       char *clnt_sperror(CLIENT *rpch, char *s);

              Like  clnt_perror(),  except that (like clnt_sperrno()) it returns a string instead
              of printing to standard error.

              Bugs: returns pointer to static data that is overwritten on each call.

       CLIENT *clntraw_create(unsigned long prognum, unsigned long versnum);

              This routine creates a toy RPC client  for  the  remote  program  prognum,  version
              versnum.   The  transport used to pass messages to the service is actually a buffer
              within the process's address space, so the corresponding RPC server should live  in
              the  same  address  space;  see svcraw_create().  This allows simulation of RPC and
              acquisition of RPC  overheads,  such  as  round  trip  times,  without  any  kernel
              interference.  This routine returns NULL if it fails.

       CLIENT *clnttcp_create(struct sockaddr_in *addr,
                       unsigned long prognum, unsigned long versnum,
                       int *sockp, unsigned int sendsz, unsigned int recvsz);

              This routine creates an RPC client for the remote program prognum, version versnum;
              the client uses TCP/IP as a transport.  The remote program is located  at  Internet
              address  *addr.   If addr->sin_port is zero, then it is set to the actual port that
              the remote program is listening on (the remote portmap  service  is  consulted  for
              this  information).   The  parameter  sockp is a socket; if it is RPC_ANYSOCK, then
              this routine opens a new one and sets sockp.  Since  TCP-based  RPC  uses  buffered
              I/O,  the  user  may  specify  the  size  of  the send and receive buffers with the
              parameters sendsz and recvsz;  values  of  zero  choose  suitable  defaults.   This
              routine returns NULL if it fails.

       CLIENT *clntudp_create(struct sockaddr_in *addr,
                       unsigned long prognum, unsigned long versnum,
                       struct timeval wait, int *sockp);

              This routine creates an RPC client for the remote program prognum, version versnum;
              the client uses use UDP/IP as a  transport.   The  remote  program  is  located  at
              Internet  address  addr.   If addr->sin_port is zero, then it is set to actual port
              that the remote program is listening on (the remote portmap  service  is  consulted
              for this information).  The parameter sockp is a socket; if it is RPC_ANYSOCK, then
              this routine opens a new one and sets sockp.  The UDP transport  resends  the  call
              message  in  intervals  of wait time until a response is received or until the call
              times out.  The total time for the call to time out is specified by clnt_call().

              Warning: since UDP-based RPC messages can hold only up to 8 Kbytes of encoded data,
              this  transport  cannot  be used for procedures that take large arguments or return
              huge results.

       CLIENT *clntudp_bufcreate(struct sockaddr_in *addr,
                   unsigned long prognum, unsigned long versnum,
                   struct timeval wait, int *sockp,
                   unsigned int sendsize, unsigned int recosize);

              This routine creates an RPC client for the remote program prognum, on versnum;  the
              client  uses  use UDP/IP as a transport.  The remote program is located at Internet
              address addr.  If addr->sin_port is zero, then it is set to actual  port  that  the
              remote  program  is  listening on (the remote portmap service is consulted for this
              information).  The parameter sockp is a socket; if it  is  RPC_ANYSOCK,  then  this
              routine opens a new one and sets sockp.  The UDP transport resends the call message
              in intervals of wait time until a response is received or until the call times out.
              The total time for the call to time out is specified by clnt_call().

              This  allows  the user to specify the maximum packet size for sending and receiving
              UDP-based RPC messages.

       void get_myaddress(struct sockaddr_in *addr);

              Stuff the machine's IP address into *addr, without consulting the library  routines
              that deal with /etc/hosts.  The port number is always set to htons(PMAPPORT).

       struct pmaplist *pmap_getmaps(struct sockaddr_in *addr);

              A  user  interface  to the portmap service, which returns a list of the current RPC
              program-to-port mappings on the host located at IP address *addr.  This routine can
              return NULL.  The command rpcinfo -p uses this routine.

       unsigned short pmap_getport(struct sockaddr_in *addr,
                           unsigned long prognum, unsigned long versnum,
                           unsigned int protocol);

              A  user  interface  to  the portmap service, which returns the port number on which
              waits a service that supports program number prognum, version versnum,  and  speaks
              the  transport  protocol  associated  with protocol.  The value of protocol is most
              likely IPPROTO_UDP or IPPROTO_TCP.  A return value of zero means that  the  mapping
              does not exist or that the RPC system failed to contact the remote portmap service.
              In the latter case, the global variable rpc_createerr contains the RPC status.

       enum clnt_stat pmap_rmtcall(struct sockaddr_in *addr,
                           unsigned long prognum, unsigned long versnum,
                           unsigned long procnum,
                           xdrproc_t inproc, char *in,
                           xdrproc_t outproc, char *out,
                           struct timeval tout, unsigned long *portp);

              A user interface to the portmap service, which instructs portmap on the host at  IP
              address  *addr to make an RPC call on your behalf to a procedure on that host.  The
              parameter *portp will be modified to the program's port  number  if  the  procedure
              succeeds.   The  definitions  of  other  parameters  are discussed in callrpc() and
              clnt_call().  This procedure should be used for a “ping”  and  nothing  else.   See
              also clnt_broadcast().

       bool_t pmap_set(unsigned long prognum, unsigned long versnum,
                       unsigned int protocol, unsigned short port);

              A  user  interface  to the portmap service, which establishes a mapping between the
              triple [prognum,versnum,protocol] and port on the machine's portmap  service.   The
              value  of protocol is most likely IPPROTO_UDP or IPPROTO_TCP.  This routine returns
              one if it succeeds, zero otherwise.  Automatically done by svc_register().

       bool_t pmap_unset(unsigned long prognum, unsigned long versnum);

              A user interface to the portmap service, which destroys  all  mapping  between  the
              triple  [prognum,versnum,*]  and  ports  on  the  machine's  portmap service.  This
              routine returns one if it succeeds, zero otherwise.

       int registerrpc(unsigned long prognum, unsigned long versnum,
                       unsigned long procnum, char *(*procname)(char *),
                       xdrproc_t inproc, xdrproc_t outproc);

              Register procedure procname with the RPC service package.  If a request arrives for
              program  prognum, version versnum, and procedure procnum, procname is called with a
              pointer to its parameter(s);  progname  should  return  a  pointer  to  its  static
              result(s);  inproc is used to decode the parameters while outproc is used to encode
              the  results.   This  routine  returns  zero  if  the  registration  succeeded,  -1
              otherwise.

              Warning:  remote  procedures  registered in this form are accessed using the UDP/IP
              transport; see svcudp_create() for restrictions.

       struct rpc_createerr rpc_createerr;

              A global variable whose value is set by any RPC client creation routine  that  does
              not succeed.  Use the routine clnt_pcreateerror() to print the reason why.

       void svc_destroy(SVCXPRT *xprt);

              A  macro that destroys the RPC service transport handle, xprt.  Destruction usually
              involves deallocation of private data structures, including xprt  itself.   Use  of
              xprt is undefined after calling this routine.

       fd_set svc_fdset;

              A  global variable reflecting the RPC service side's read file descriptor bit mask;
              it is suitable as a parameter to the select(2) system call.  This  is  of  interest
              only  if  a  service  implementor  does not call svc_run(), but rather does his own
              asynchronous event processing.  This variable is read-only (do not pass its address
              to  select(2)!),  yet  it may change after calls to svc_getreqset() or any creation
              routines.

       int svc_fds;

              Similar to svc_fdset, but limited to 32 descriptors.  This interface  is  obsoleted
              by svc_fdset.

       svc_freeargs(SVCXPRT *xprt, xdrproc_t inproc, char *in);

              A  macro  that  frees  any data allocated by the RPC/XDR system when it decoded the
              arguments to a service procedure using svc_getargs().  This routine  returns  1  if
              the results were successfully freed, and zero otherwise.

       svc_getargs(SVCXPRT *xprt, xdrproc_t inproc, char *in);

              A  macro  that  decodes  the  arguments  of  an RPC request associated with the RPC
              service transport handle,  xprt.   The  parameter  in  is  the  address  where  the
              arguments  will  be placed; inproc is the XDR routine used to decode the arguments.
              This routine returns one if decoding succeeds, and zero otherwise.

       struct sockaddr_in *svc_getcaller(SVCXPRT *xprt);

              The approved way of getting the network  address  of  the  caller  of  a  procedure
              associated with the RPC service transport handle, xprt.

       void svc_getreqset(fd_set *rdfds);

              This  routine is of interest only if a service implementor does not call svc_run(),
              but instead implements custom asynchronous event processing.  It is called when the
              select(2)  system  call  has determined that an RPC request has arrived on some RPC
              socket(s); rdfds is the resultant read  file  descriptor  bit  mask.   The  routine
              returns when all sockets associated with the value of rdfds have been serviced.

       void svc_getreq(int rdfds);

              Similar  to  svc_getreqset(),  but  limited  to  32 descriptors.  This interface is
              obsoleted by svc_getreqset().

       bool_t svc_register(SVCXPRT *xprt, unsigned long prognum,
                           unsigned long versnum,
                           void (*dispatch)(svc_req *, SVCXPRT *),
                           unsigned long protocol);

              Associates prognum and versnum with the service dispatch procedure,  dispatch.   If
              protocol  is  zero,  the  service  is  not registered with the portmap service.  If
              protocol is nonzero, then a mapping of  the  triple  [prognum,versnum,protocol]  to
              xprt->xp_port  is established with the local portmap service (generally protocol is
              zero, IPPROTO_UDP or IPPROTO_TCP).  The procedure dispatch has the following form:

                  dispatch(struct svc_req *request, SVCXPRT *xprt);

              The svc_register() routine returns one if it succeeds, and zero otherwise.

       void svc_run(void);

              This routine never returns.  It waits for RPC requests to  arrive,  and  calls  the
              appropriate  service procedure using svc_getreq() when one arrives.  This procedure
              is usually waiting for a select(2) system call to return.

       bool_t svc_sendreply(SVCXPRT *xprt, xdrproc_t outproc, char *out);

              Called by an RPC service's dispatch  routine  to  send  the  results  of  a  remote
              procedure  call.   The parameter xprt is the request's associated transport handle;
              outproc is the XDR routine which is used to encode the  results;  and  out  is  the
              address of the results.  This routine returns one if it succeeds, zero otherwise.

       void svc_unregister(unsigned long prognum, unsigned long versnum);

              Remove all mapping of the double [prognum,versnum] to dispatch routines, and of the
              triple [prognum,versnum,*] to port number.

       void svcerr_auth(SVCXPRT *xprt, enum auth_stat why);

              Called by a service dispatch routine that refuses to  perform  a  remote  procedure
              call due to an authentication error.

       void svcerr_decode(SVCXPRT *xprt);

              Called   by  a  service  dispatch  routine  that  cannot  successfully  decode  its
              parameters.  See also svc_getargs().

       void svcerr_noproc(SVCXPRT *xprt);

              Called by a service dispatch routine that does not implement the  procedure  number
              that the caller requests.

       void svcerr_noprog(SVCXPRT *xprt);

              Called  when  the  desired program is not registered with the RPC package.  Service
              implementors usually do not need this routine.

       void svcerr_progvers(SVCXPRT *xprt);

              Called when the desired version of  a  program  is  not  registered  with  the  RPC
              package.  Service implementors usually do not need this routine.

       void svcerr_systemerr(SVCXPRT *xprt);

              Called  by a service dispatch routine when it detects a system error not covered by
              any particular protocol.  For example, if a service can no longer allocate storage,
              it may call this routine.

       void svcerr_weakauth(SVCXPRT *xprt);

              Called  by  a  service  dispatch routine that refuses to perform a remote procedure
              call  due  to  insufficient   authentication   parameters.    The   routine   calls
              svcerr_auth(xprt, AUTH_TOOWEAK).

       SVCXPRT *svcfd_create(int fd, unsigned int sendsize,
                             unsigned int recvsize);

              Create  a  service  on top of any open descriptor.  Typically, this descriptor is a
              connected socket for a stream protocol such as TCP.  sendsize and recvsize indicate
              sizes  for the send and receive buffers.  If they are zero, a reasonable default is
              chosen.

       SVCXPRT *svcraw_create(void);

              This routine creates a toy RPC service transport, to which it  returns  a  pointer.
              The  transport  is  really  a  buffer  within  the  process's address space, so the
              corresponding  RPC  client  should  live   in   the   same   address   space;   see
              clntraw_create().   This  routine  allows  simulation of RPC and acquisition of RPC
              overheads (such as round  trip  times),  without  any  kernel  interference.   This
              routine returns NULL if it fails.

       SVCXPRT *svctcp_create(int sock, unsigned int send_buf_size,
                              unsigned int recv_buf_size);

              This  routine  creates  a TCP/IP-based RPC service transport, to which it returns a
              pointer.   The  transport  is  associated  with  the  socket  sock,  which  may  be
              RPC_ANYSOCK,  in which case a new socket is created.  If the socket is not bound to
              a local TCP  port,  then  this  routine  binds  it  to  an  arbitrary  port.   Upon
              completion,  xprt->xp_sock  is the transport's socket descriptor, and xprt->xp_port
              is the transport's port number.  This routine returns NULL if it fails.  Since TCP-
              based  RPC uses buffered I/O, users may specify the size of buffers; values of zero
              choose suitable defaults.

       SVCXPRT *svcudp_bufcreate(int sock, unsigned int sendsize,
                                 unsigned int recosize);

              This routine creates a UDP/IP-based RPC service transport, to which  it  returns  a
              pointer.   The  transport  is  associated  with  the  socket  sock,  which  may  be
              RPC_ANYSOCK, in which case a new socket is created.  If the socket is not bound  to
              a  local  UDP  port,  then  this  routine  binds  it  to  an  arbitrary port.  Upon
              completion, xprt->xp_sock is the transport's socket descriptor,  and  xprt->xp_port
              is the transport's port number.  This routine returns NULL if it fails.

              This  allows  the user to specify the maximum packet size for sending and receiving
              UDP-based RPC messages.

       SVCXPRT *svcudp_create(int sock);

              This call is equivalent to svcudp_bufcreate(sock,SZ,SZ) for some default size SZ.

       bool_t xdr_accepted_reply(XDR *xdrs, struct accepted_reply *ar);

              Used for encoding RPC reply messages.  This routine is useful for users who wish to
              generate RPC-style messages without using the RPC package.

       bool_t xdr_authunix_parms(XDR *xdrs, struct authunix_parms *aupp);

              Used for describing UNIX credentials.  This routine is useful for users who wish to
              generate these credentials without using the RPC authentication package.

       void xdr_callhdr(XDR *xdrs, struct rpc_msg *chdr);

              Used for describing RPC call header messages.  This routine is useful for users who
              wish to generate RPC-style messages without using the RPC package.

       bool_t xdr_callmsg(XDR *xdrs, struct rpc_msg *cmsg);

              Used  for  describing RPC call messages.  This routine is useful for users who wish
              to generate RPC-style messages without using the RPC package.

       bool_t xdr_opaque_auth(XDR *xdrs, struct opaque_auth *ap);

              Used for describing RPC  authentication  information  messages.   This  routine  is
              useful  for  users  who  wish  to generate RPC-style messages without using the RPC
              package.

       bool_t xdr_pmap(XDR *xdrs, struct pmap *regs);

              Used for describing parameters to various  portmap  procedures,  externally.   This
              routine is useful for users who wish to generate these parameters without using the
              pmap interface.

       bool_t xdr_pmaplist(XDR *xdrs, struct pmaplist **rp);

              Used for describing a list of port mappings, externally.  This  routine  is  useful
              for users who wish to generate these parameters without using the pmap interface.

       bool_t xdr_rejected_reply(XDR *xdrs, struct rejected_reply *rr);

              Used  for describing RPC reply messages.  This routine is useful for users who wish
              to generate RPC-style messages without using the RPC package.

       bool_t xdr_replymsg(XDR *xdrs, struct rpc_msg *rmsg);

              Used for describing RPC reply messages.  This routine is useful for users who  wish
              to generate RPC style messages without using the RPC package.

       void xprt_register(SVCXPRT *xprt);

              After  RPC  service  transport handles are created, they should register themselves
              with the RPC service package.  This routine modifies the global  variable  svc_fds.
              Service implementors usually do not need this routine.

       void xprt_unregister(SVCXPRT *xprt);

              Before  an  RPC  service transport handle is destroyed, it should unregister itself
              with the RPC service package.  This routine modifies the global  variable  svc_fds.
              Service implementors usually do not need this routine.

SEE ALSO

       xdr(3)

       The following manuals:
              Remote Procedure Calls: Protocol Specification
              Remote Procedure Call Programming Guide
              rpcgen Programming Guide

       RPC:  Remote Procedure Call Protocol Specification, RFC 1050, Sun Microsystems, Inc., USC-
       ISI.

COLOPHON

       This page is part of release 3.54 of the Linux man-pages project.  A  description  of  the
       project,     and    information    about    reporting    bugs,    can    be    found    at
       http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

                                            2008-07-17                                     RPC(3)